My partner joined a Japanese company in Tokyo 3 months ago and the found an apartment that the company pays for 90% of and the company signed the contract with the landlord (I think it’s Mitsui). The work culture was pretty toxic and she was having breakdowns every day after work.
Now she got a much better offer with another company that she accepted, but the current company is saying she has to pay 2 months rent as a penalty for ending the lease early. She cannot afford to stay in her current apartment as rent is too high and she would have to pay deposit and key money if she stayed since her company paid for it originally and they would have to “end the current lease and make her sign a new lease” which comes with all the regular costs.
Is there any negotiation to be done here or does she really have to pay the 2 months contract breakage fee? It feels a bit coercive as her housing is dependent on the company which treats their employees very poorly.
3 comments
What does the contract say?
My boyfriend had his previous apartment contract through his company. He moved out and changed jobs. He had to repay deposit and key money to his old company, which would be roughly two months rent. It wasn’t a penalty, just a repayment of startup costs, which the company had paid with the understanding that he would continue working at their company.
2 months fee is pretty standard for breaking the lease early. Just pay up and move on.